Building the TC-R1 Pro Simulator Chassis - Commence Simulation!

Throughout the history of racing, drivers had taken the "baptism by fire" approach to learning how to handle a car on track. That's not for any reason other than there was no other way—until now.

Racing simulators are much more than video games, and as technology has advanced, these "games" are now a viable way to train a new driver or keep a seasoned pro sharp.

It's no secret that at the Cup level, many drivers use simulators to keep sharp. And although racing simulators can get out of hand, with full-motion rigs reaching well into the six figures, the simple truth is that you can pick a couple of choice components and build yourself a nice little desktop simulator for your home or shop. If you spend a little more money, you can get a sim that much better emulates exactly what you're trying to recreate.

Fast Track Sims is a Canton, Georgia-based simulator chassis company that makes and sells sims geared specifically toward the circle track crowd. We got hooked up with Mark Lutes through a friend, and after a few conversations we decided to build a sim to show the benefits a quality simulator can provide to a driver or race team.

2/23Fast Track Sims is building one of its TC-R1 Pro simulator chassis for Circle Track. This simulator accurately mimics a circle track race car in feel and is designed to give you a realistic experience for driver training and practice.

Fast Track Sims is building Circle Track one of its TC-R1 Pro Sim chassis. The chassis is an all-tube chassis, and there are a lot of reasons for that. First off, it offers a real race car cockpit feel, and for Fast Track Sims, it's all about a realistic experience. A bit more subtle, but probably more important is the strength the tubular design gives you.

"The precision TIG-welded chassis is built for the ever-increasing forces applied by today's driver input systems, like high-pressure brakes, high force-feedback steering wheels, sequential shifters, etc," explains Mark Lutes, owner of Fast Track Sims. "The Fast Track Sims TC-R1 Pro Sim chassis is built to withstand these forces, allowing you to feel the full benefit of evolving driver controls. When it comes down to it, just like in your race car, if your sim cockpit is flexing, you are losing feedback and some of the benefits these high-end controls have to offer. Your sim chassis is a vital component in having the best sim racing experience possible."

The chassis gives the sim it's strength, but it also helps recreate the racing experience, and much of that is based around the seat.

For our sim chassis, we are using a Kirkey full-containment circle track seat, which we got from Summit Racing. This will offer the most realistic experience for driver training and practice.

Lutes adds, "When you are a real racer and you use sim racing for training, you need your sim chassis to replicate your real racing environment as closely as possible. No other Sim Racing Chassis offers as much adjustability to help achieve the desired ergonomics as the TC-R1 Pro Sim Chassis. Your seat and seating position, monitor position, steering wheel position, shifter position and pedal position are vitally important to get the full benefit from sim racing training. Because of this, you don't want to spend hours in a sim that does not replicate your real race car environment/ergonomics."

Outside of the chassis, the rest of the components you use can make or break you sim experience—especially if you are trying to accurately recreate your race car. For this, Fast Track Sims is developing the TC-R1 Pro Hydraulic Pedals. These pedals are designed to give the driver the most accurate feel possible, using real Wilwood pedals and master and slave cylinders to actuate the brakes and clutch. Pedal pressure is easily tunable by changing springs in the slave cylinders, allowing to perfectly recreate the pedals in your race car.

The system is also nothing without racing simulation software. For this, we turned to iRacing, who is the leader in high-end racing simulation software. iRacing allows you to race everything from a Legends car to a Sprint Cup car with everything from Camping World Trucks to Street Stocks, and even asphalt Sprint Cars in between.

When our TC-R1 chassis gets closer to completion you will be able to read all about the addition parts Fast Track Sims uses to finish it. In the end, it's all about chassis stability and driver ergonomics. The TC-R1 does a great job of recreating a true race car-like experience. For the casual sim racer, or the seasoned racing professional looking to keep their skills sharp, a quality racing simulator is great investment in your racing career!

4/23<strong>2</strong>. The chassis FTS designs and builds are as accurate as possible. They are even designed based on actual race cars.

5/23<strong>3</strong>. The chassis starts with the jig. The tubular chassis are built as accurately as most race cars. Strength is a huge part of the design, and that starts with the base of the chassis.

6/23<strong>4</strong>. The chassis is built from 11/4-inch mild steel tubing. This mimics the look of a real race car, but also offers tons of strength so the chassis doesn’t flex from aggressive driver inputs on the steering wheel, shifter, or pedals.

7/23<strong>5</strong>. With the base of the chassis securely locked in the jig, Lutes begins to build the chassis.

8/23<strong>6</strong>. Each piece of tubing is bent to the exact shape needed.

9/23<strong>7</strong>. Just like a race car chassis, each tube is notched and perfectly fitted before being welded.

10/23<strong>8</strong>. Lutes takes great care to ensure each bar is level and chassis is square.

11/23<strong>9</strong>. The sim chassis is designed to be modular. This means the front portion is build separate from the rear and the monitor mount. This allows FTS to easily ship the chassis, and they bolt together when you get it. The total chassis weights in at 100 pounds.

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13/23<strong>10</strong>. Lutes uses fixtures to ensure each piece he adds is in the correct location. The adjustable steering wheel mount is kept square with the steel plate bolted to it.

14/23<strong>11</strong>. The steering wheel mount is adjustable to allows you get the wheel in the same position as it is in your race car. After all, it’s all about the most accurate simulations.

15/23<strong>12</strong>. The basic chassis screams race car! Actually it looks more like a sled, but once the rest of the components are installed, you won’t be able to confuse this for anything else.

16/23<strong>13</strong>. Next, the supports for the monitor mounts and the outer legs are installed.

17/23<strong>14</strong>. The monitor mount is attached with antivibration clamps to keep the mount tight and eliminate vibrations created from the three monitors that surround the driver.

18/23<strong>15</strong>. The mount supports are attached next.

19/23<strong>16</strong>. No, this in not a new piece of new equipment at your local gym. It’s a powerful tool for training race car drivers!

20/23<strong>17</strong>. Next, Lutes begins to attach the shifter mount, mouse pad, and dead pedal. All of these are adjustable to either be out of the way, or in the exact spot they are in your race car.

21/23<strong>18</strong>. The adjustable feet give the chassis a solid footing while in use.

22/23<strong>19</strong>. This is a sneak peek at the new Fast Track Sims TC-R1 Pro Hydraulic Pedals. That’s right, those are real Wilwood race pedals! They are adjustable for location and pressure, and they use brake fluid to operate the brakes and clutch for the simulator.

23/23<strong>20</strong>. Lastly, (for now, at least) Lutes mocks up the switch panel that puts all of the car controls (setup, ignition, audio controls, fans, and more) at your fingertips.